The Nepal national cricket team, currently on tour in Canada for the ICC World Cup League 2 Tri-Nation ODI Series, started their campaign with a victory in a warm-up match.
Nepal defeated the local HP Jaguars by 66 runs in the practice match held in Toronto. Chasing Nepal’s target of 248 runs, the Jaguars were bowled out for 181 runs in 39 overs. Ajayveer Singh top-scored for the Jaguars with 55 runs, while Nadim Manjra contributed 29 runs.
For Nepal, Lalit Narayan Rajbanshi took 4 wickets, Sandeep Lamichhane claimed 3 wickets, and Karan KC and Kushal Malla took 1 wicket each.
Earlier, Nepal won the toss and opted to bat, posting a total of 247 runs in 47.5 overs. Anil Kumar Shah remained unbeaten, top-scoring with 47 runs, while Kushal Bhurtel contributed 41 runs. Captain Rohit Kumar Paudel scored 33, Bhim Sharki 21, Gulshan Jha and Aasif Sheikh 19 each, and Dipendra Singh Airee added 11 runs.
For the Jaguars, Jaskaran Buttar, Irfan Sadaat, and Sheel Patel each took 2 wickets, while Zahid Shirzad, Sukhjinder Singh, and Shivam Sharma picked up 1 wicket apiece.
Nepal is set to play Canada on September 28, Oman on September 29, Canada again on October 1, and Oman on October 2, as part of the ICC World Cup League-2.